Our History & Mission
Located on the remote island of La Gonâve, Haiti, The Pwojè Fanm (“Women’s Projects”) Professional Trade School began with the vision of a Haitian priest’s wife, who saw the need to teach marketable skills to young women who were unable to complete their formal education. Carmel Valdéma started Pwojè Fanm in the 1990’s with 12 girls who couldn’t read. She hired women who could teach them some basic skills, and the first class graduated in 2002.
By the time Beatitudes formed to partner with Pwojè Fanm in 2003, the program was already established and growing. It was part of the large, holistic Episcopal ministry on La Gonâve and was based at the St. Francis of Assisi church compound in Anse-a-Galets. The program offered courses in cooking, sewing, embroidery and floral arts.
Beatitudes spent several years building a relationship with the program and eventually we helped them to expand their horizons. We sent mission teams to work directly with the women twice a year to teach them new skills. And we developed products that would showcase their skills. Then we could import the products to the U.S. and sell to raise money for their program. These funds eventually built a dedicated, solar-powered
classroom for the program and provided equipment such as a gas oven, freezer, many new treadle sewing machines, a serger, and more. We also used fair trade practices to pay the women for creating our products. But the program leadership has always been 100% Haitian.
Heartbreakingly, the combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and prolonged political strife and gang violence forced Beatitudes to pause our travels to Haiti after 2019. However, we have continued to support the program from afar, sending financial support and remaining in communication with the program’s leadership.
We are so proud of our Haitian sisters. In spite of all that Haiti has been through in the five years since we last visited them, the Pwojè Fanm program is more robust than ever. Under the leadership of Mme. Nerline (2021-present), the program has tripled in size. Several of the program’s graduates are now on its teaching staff. And there have been several new innovations, including opening the program to young men and offering new subjects such as haute couture sewing, crochet and leather work. Also, the cooking school now runs a snack bar for the St. Francis Episcopal School students and faculty. And, just for fun and team-building, Mme. Nerline organized a football (soccer) tournament for the Pwojè Fanm students. In 2023, the program celebrated a record graduation of 31 students.
A Gift of Vocational Training in Haiti
Published in the newsletter of the National Episcopal Church Women, Sept 2024
The Pwojè Fanm (“Women’s Projects”) vocational program on La Gonâve Island, Haiti, had humble beginnings in the 1990’s, when the wife of the Episcopal Priest-in-Charge of the island gathered “12 girls who couldn’t read” and started to teach them some marketable skills, like sewing, cooking, embroidery and floral arrangement.
In 2003, the program attracted the attention of a visiting missionary group of women from St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, and over the next several years, the Arkansas ladies founded a non-profit organization called Beatitudes, Inc. (www.BeatitudesInc.org) to partner with Pwojè Fanm and returned to Haiti regularly to build a relationship with the Haitian women. Eventually, Beatitudes started importing the Haitian ladies’ handcrafts to sell in the U.S. and used the proceeds to support the program in Haiti by paying the women for their artisanal work and providing needed equipment such as treadle sewing machines, a gas oven, a freezer, etc., and even building a small solar-powered building for Pwojè Fanm. By 2019, Beatitudes had sent 22 mission teams to Haiti to work directly with the women.
Then, in 2020, the pandemic interrupted Beatitudes’ travels, and other tumultuous events in Haiti (political unrest, presidential assassination, spiraling gang violence) have continued to make travel to Haiti unsafe, but Beatitudes has continued to support the program financially.
Meanwhile, the Pwojè Fanm program leadership has continued to faithfully shepherd the program such that it has flourished in the 5 years since Beatitudes’ last physical visit. Under the directorship of Mme. Nerline Guerrier, course offerings have expanded and student enrollment has more than doubled. Also, the program has caught the attention and imagination of the surrounding community, which no longer sees it as being only for women who were unable to complete their education, but as a beacon of hope for the many high school graduates (young women and men) who want to learn practical skills in order to find work or start their own businesses. The program has always been a part of the large, holistic Episcopal ministry on the island, but now the Priest-in-Charge of the ministry, Père Madoche Vil, sees it as the foundation for a long-dreamed-of vocational school. It has a new name: Sant Fòmasyon Pwofesyonèl Sen Franswa d’Asiz, or the Professional Training Center of St. Francis of Assisi.
Part of the growth and success of the program came about because the Haitian leadership helped Beatitudes to understand that many students dropped out of the program because they could not afford to buy the materials they needed to work with in class. At one time, high attrition almost closed the program! But Beatitudes started to support the cost of materials several years ago and this made a huge difference, with increased enrollment and student retention.
However, increased enrollment in Haiti and decreased opportunities to sell the women’s handcrafts in the U.S. have made it challenging for Beatitudes to support the cost of student materials. So Beatitudes is deeply grateful to National ECW for the generous Women-to-Women Grant that will allow us to place materials in the hands of the students for the 2024-25 class year. There is a Haitian proverb that says, “Sa nou bay pòv se Bondye nou prete l,” or “What we give to the poor we lend to God.” May God repay NECW abundant blessings for the gift they are giving His beloved in Haiti!
Gratefully,
Sandra Chai, M.D.
Beatitudes Inc. Board President